lighting Home-depot lighting, is it viable?

thefilmgeek

thefilmgeek

Given the amount of equipment I'm having to purchase this coming summer, I don't actually have the 1000+ dollars to shell out for a professional light kit, like the Lowell lights you can pick up.

I was curious if just picking up the self-standing flood work-lights from home depot could accomplish the same thing? Digital doesn't require the lighting that actual film does, so theoretically this looks like it would accomplish the same thing as thousand dollar professional lights.

Has anyone shot any semi-professional work with just store bought lights, like this? I'd be anxious to see your results, or any feedback you had on it.
 
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yes, they come in different amounts of light cuttingness (new word, I just made it up). I can never remember the numbers and how they work. They don't affect the colors and the picture quality is affected only by the quality of the specific brand of filter you putchase... that said, DV isn't really resolute enough to notice the quality loss that cheap filters provide.
 
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thefilmgeek said:
Can you stack ND filters on top of each other in order to keep blocking until you get the desired amount you want, or do I just have to buy the correct one the first time?
Click to expand...
Yes indeed you can.. your best bet is to buy yourself a nice little kit with several darkness levels. The ones you need will depend on your camera and what will fit on it. There are square filters that will fit into a matte box, and round filters with thread in a variety of sizes that will screw onto a lens. You can stack them up to get the level of filtration you need/want.
 
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Awesome! Yes it's the Canon XH-A1, and I'm nearly certain it's 72mm thread.

Where is the best place to pick up a 72mm ND filter kit, and about what price do they usually run?

As well, is there going to be any difference between the different brands of ND filters, or will they all produce the same results? What I mean is, will one filter maybe cause side effects that a more expensive filter wouldn't? Thanks!
 
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Alright! I dropped 80 dollars on a light from Lowe's.

It's a tripod with dual head lights. Each light has 650 watts, and they're adjustable brightness. It's bright as CRAP!! BUT, it's perfect for a key light. :)

Would a single 500w be enough for a fill light, or should I go as high as 1000?
 
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Depends on the look you're going for. More moody would put less light on the fill side of the face... these would be drama, sci fi, thrillers, horror. Comedy would be closer to one another, but you can get that by moving the key light physically back to lower the amount of light on that side of the face to match the fill side.
 
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If the 650 is bright as CRAP the 1000 will be brighter.

I know you know this so my suggestion is to pick up several different bulbs,
set up your camera and a monitor, turn on the light and roll tape. Have
someone walk through the frame, stop, say a line or two and walk out.

Do this with different wattage of bulbs - try it with some of the light
flagged off with a piece of cardboard - try it with one of the lights
off - try it with a little fill.

Experiment with a whole bunch of different things including the
exposure and iris, then dump all of the test footage into you editing
software and look at it. Then go back and test all over again.

Maybe a single 250w would be too bright for a dramatic horror type
look, but with a different camera setting it will work. Take notes
on each set up and put them on the slate so in the editing you
will know what you did to get that look.
 
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I'd like to footnote it by saying I'll have stacked ND filters on the camera, and the iris opened all the way for a more dramatic depth of field -- but I'll have enough ND filters on it that it'll need some serious wattage to look good. That's why I went with the 1300watt key light.
 
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The type of tests Rik is talking about doing look like this and take time:

http://www.yafiunderground.com/index.php?page=lighting_distances

The handsome mug in front of the camera is yours truly :)

Pick a variable to explore and explore it. If you're looking for the effect of the distance of an open face light on creating light hot spots on your subject, pick a subject, plant them, setup the light, write the distance on a slate or piece of paper in DARK pen, then toll tape. Move the light 6"-1' at a time and shoot again noting the changes on the slate (including what f-stop you ended up needing to use and any filters you have on. This way, you can print them out and put them in a 3-ring binder and have them for reference on set with all the settings you'll need for a given look, or a given distance, or a given f-stop.

Then repeat the exercise with fill distances, hair light, diffusion amounts, colored gels, bounce angles, light cutting using flags, camera angles, light heights, anything you can think of! Go for it, learn the only way anyone actually gains this knowledge, doing.
 
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Yes I'm picking up the equipment 3 months prior to the shoot, so I'll have that much time to get lighting notes down.

The scene I'm most worried about is in the work room.

It'll be the actors sitting up against a wall in a cement room, and there is supposed to be a flourescent light overhead them on the wall lighting down against them.

I'm basically gonna crank up the 1300 watter and aim it at the wall above them and let it diffuse down, and put black wrap on the bottom of the lights to keep it from spilling too much onto them accidentally.
 
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The way I would light that workroom scene would be to use the practical
light as the key.

Since fluorescents are a little green, I'd get some very light green gels and
use them on several scoop lights and use them as the hair light, background
and fill. Masking off the areas I don't want light to fall with the blackwrap.
Maybe even try different shades of green to add intensity or not use it at all
on some lights if it starts looking like Frankenstien's lab - a little blue would
help, too. I'd use a little bounce and a paper lantern on the faces with no
gels to cut the green. So probably four to six lights
 
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What I was thinking of doing is firing off the big 1300 watter from overhead, pointing down at an angle so it's like the fluorescent shooting down at them (they're sitting under it).

Then add in some fills here and there, I definitely want hard dramatic shadows. Because of all the ND filters I'm using, it won't be all that bright.

I was going to go ahead and add a greenish tent to it in post, give it that fluorescent characteristic.

Does that sound doable?
 
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WideShot said:
I have used these many times.

Pros:
-Light (with globe) is dirt cheap
-by default usually close to 3200k
-A very strong output of light
-Comes with handles
-Replacement globes are dirt cheap
-some models come with a stand, some with twin heads.

Negatives:
-Usually come with a grill on the front that has to be removed otherwise it creates shadows
-Gets to be incredibly hot. A big consideration during the summer in an upstairs bedroom scene or something.
-Because of the heat you cannot touch the globes with your bare fingers or the protective glass on the front, the oil can cause big problems including the globe exploding
-There is no built in light control - which means you need to figure out 100% of flags, diffusion, etc.
-No filter tabs (some you can make do with what they have)
-No scrim holder/set available
-No built in baby socket. This means you are going to need to use a grip knuckle if you intend on using it with a normal lighting stand.
-Is so hot you have to watch what you set the light next to or pointed at (diffusion, paper, etc), I have burned foam core with them.
Click to expand...

Sounds to me like the bad outweighs the good.
 
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thefilmgeek said:
What I was thinking of doing is firing off the big 1300 watter from overhead, pointing down at an angle so it's like the fluorescent shooting down at them (they're sitting under it).

Then add in some fills here and there, I definitely want hard dramatic shadows. Because of all the ND filters I'm using, it won't be all that bright.

I was going to go ahead and add a greenish tent to it in post, give it that fluorescent characteristic.

Does that sound doable?
Click to expand...

It would probably work, though I don't know how fluorescent it will look. Fluorescent lights are very soft, they don't cause the hard shadows you're talking about, so just tinting it green won't necessarily sell the look. Do some tests between now and then and see what works and what doesn't. That's really the best way to learn.
 
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Very informative thread. I just wanted to bump it so newbies like myself could learn. Great thread guys, thank you.

By the way, it's now July, filmgeek; how did the shoot go? What did you ultimately decide on with your lighting?
 
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I used 6 "round metallic" shop light holders. like 5.99 a piece @ Walmart, and the extreme white bulbs from Walmart like 6-7 bucks a piece. The standard yellow are not bright enough and will ruin your shots, unless your going for a urine look.. the extreme bright though is where its @. For low budget. they come with a metal clamp that can be clamped to just about anything, i hit home depot picked up some 2x4's and screws, then made stands for each one. Its obviously not "professional" but it works well enough! If you want to dis fuse the light, hit home depot as well and buy fluorescent light diffusers.

My round metal bulb holders came with a 6ft plug and "optional" grill that i threw away because they would cast shadows.

all in all for less the 100 bucks you cant go wrong, and its as close as your going to get to nice lights for the price.
 
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